


Almost Missed You

by aimee_stark



Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M, Natasha is a good friend, Please use your imagination, There is implied sex, when she wants to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 18:46:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/641875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimee_stark/pseuds/aimee_stark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony always knew Bruce wouldn't allow himself to hang around for too long. He just didn't expect it to be as difficult as it was to live without him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Almost Missed You

**Author's Note:**

> The things I write at 5:30am sigh

Ever since Bruce left, Tony had tried everything to distract himself from the mess his life had become. He knew their relationship – or whatever it was that they had – wasn’t for forever. Bruce had told him and, although he didn’t want to, he accepted that Bruce couldn’t stay, that he had to do what was best for him. It didn’t stop Tony from hurting when he eventually did leave, though, as much as he tried to deny that he missed him. 

One night, Tony had been drinking again (it was becoming a growing habit; once again), he browsed aimlessly through whatever he had stored on his computer system. Possibly in search of some abandoned project to complete and subsequently destroy, that didn’t really matter as long as it gave him a distraction. 

JARVIS’ voice suddenly chimed in, and echoed throughout the lab, “Sir, Agent Romanoff is requesting access.” 

“Tell her I’m not in,” Tony replied, waving is hand in the general direction of the door. 

“She can see you through the glass, sir.” 

Tony sighed, “Fine, send her in.” 

Natasha and Clint had been on top secret SHIELD business that day and clearly they had returned only shortly before, as she was still in her uniform and in general disarray. She took the seat next to Tony and glanced over him, a worried look wiped over her face. 

“How long has it been?” She asked quietly, softly. 

“Five weeks,” Tony muttered, his eyes fixated on his hands on the work surface. 

“You miss him, don’t you?” Natasha placed a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder. 

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with his sad eyes and diverted his attention back to his hands. 

“Have you tried to contact him?” 

“No.” 

“Tony,” She never addressed him by his first name, but she could tell when a friend needed comfort, so it didn’t count, “Just because you can’t be in a relationship, doesn’t mean you can’t talk or be friends.” 

Natasha – as far as Tony knew – was the only person on the team who knew about him and Bruce. It’s not like she was going to blab either, c’mon, ex-Russian spy and all that jazz. 

“I’ll just miss him even more,” His voice was quiet, “And Then I’ll be even more useless to you all.” 

She sighed and went to stand up, then hesitated, “Look, you didn’t hear it from me, but his location is on the SHIELD database, and if you look – or hack – hard enough… well, that’s your call what to do then. We just need our Iron Man back, okay?” 

Realisation of what she just said hit Tony and his expression moulded into one of both gratitude and confusion as she left his lab. Had Natasha Freaking Romanoff just _recommended_ Tony Stark hack SHIELD and find Bruce Banner? 

* * *

 

The house SHIELD had set Bruce up in was without a doubt the best place he’d stayed in since going on the run. It wasn’t saying much, considering he would have been lucky to stay somewhere with a roof to keep the rain out, but this had more than three rooms and a bathroom with a working shower. Bruce felt like a King, to be quite honest! 

His mind couldn’t help but wander to thoughts of Tony. They had unofficially and kind of secretly ‘dated’ for four months whilst Bruce stayed in New York to help in the aftermath of the invasion. They had grown quite close, Bruce especially to Tony, he was the first person to see him as the man as opposed to the ‘enormous green rage monster’ as he had so affectionately described the Hulk. That meant a lot; everybody else in his life who knew what he hid beneath his cool demeanour tip-toed around him as though he was going to rip their head off if they said the wrong thing (give credit where credit’s due, he has much better control than that). 

Their relationship didn’t really have a beginning, it kind of just phased from friendship to… well, more. At first, Bruce had been worried about Pepper, since he knew her and Tony were an item at least before the invasion. Turned out, she couldn’t quite cope with watching her boyfriend almost kill himself on a regular basis, and decided it would be best for the both of them if they went back to being friends and close business partners. Bruce had grown quite fond of Pepper; she helped him out when Tony was being particularly difficult. He appreciated that a lot. 

The first time they had sex was perfect. Tony respected the need to take it slow for Bruce’s sake. He could be surprisingly gentle when he wanted to be, and Bruce certainly liked that side of Tony. Hands roamed bodies eagerly yet softly; kisses were passionate yet slow and sweet. When they both eventually came, it was to cries and moans of the other’s name and a sharp tint of green washed across Bruce’s skin. There was no danger of the Other Guy coming out, though, he rumbled in the back of Bruce’s mind with a low purr of almost satisfaction.

The memories hurt, in a way. Everything Bruce remembered about Tony made him miss him more each time. He’d give anything to see him right then, anything to hear his voice, to feel his touch, to kiss him like the rest of the world didn’t matter and it was just them…  

* * *

 

It didn’t take long at all for Tony to find what he needed about Bruce’s whereabouts. So that was exact location and coordinates. He would take the suit, obviously, a pilot would only question why he wanted to take a brief midnight outing to Brazil. 

It took barely two hours to fly there in the Mark VII, but that wasn’t the difficult part. What do you say when you turn up at someone’s house in the middle of the night in the rainforest in an Iron Man suit? 

_“Hi, I was lonely and I missed you we should make out and maybe have some hot sex now?”_

First things first, he removed the helmet, to make things slightly less awkward. When he turned around, Bruce was leaning against the open doorframe, small smirk playing across his face and God, he looked adorable. 

“Not the most inconspicuous, but points for trying!” Bruce pushed away from the building and curled his hands around the taller man’s neck, “I almost missed you.” That was a lie (not that Tony needed to know). 

“I am hurt, _almost_ missed me?” Tony grinned against Bruce’s lips. 

“Well, I knew you’d find me, so…” Also a lie. 

“I forgot to tell you I love you,” His smile widened. 

“I love you, too, Tony,” _Not_ a lie! Bruce pulled Tony into a deep kiss and closed his eyes as his hands lost themselves in Tony’s soft dark hair. Tongues quickly found each other and the kiss deepened further – now they were just making up for what they both had missed _so much._  

Tony gently pushed Bruce backwards through the door and shut it behind him, lips and tongues still tangled in their embrace. 

Bruce was the first to pull away, his eyes hovered down over Tony’s body which was still donning the suit, “That’s going to make this difficult, maybe.” 

“Oh, shit, yeah,” Tony placed the helmet back on his head, and after a couple of commands, the suit compacted into a neat red package on the floor, “Now where were we?”

**Author's Note:**

> I am living in a sea of Teen And Up rated fics. I apologise for the lack of smut, don't hurt me pls. I will get there one day...  
> Anyway, if you want smut, go to [Checkmate](http://archiveofourown.org/users/checkmate). She is my resident porn dealer (LOVE YOU BBY) and still, after all this time, gives me the motivation and inspiration to write mediocre fanfiction!


End file.
